Our Failure to Stop You from Voting Means We Weren't Trying to Stop You from Voting

North Carolina recently passed what can only be described as an omnibus voter suppression law, including a whole range of provisions from demanding photo IDs to cutting back early voting to restricting registration drives, every single one of which is likely to make it harder for minorities, poor people, and/or young people to register and vote. It's not just the Tar Heel state—across the South, states that have been freed by the Supreme Court from their prior obligation under the Voting Rights Act to get permission from the Justice Department before changing their voting laws are moving with all deliberate speed to make voting as difficult as possible. Since these are Republican states, these laws are going to pass (some have already), and I think it's worth addressing what is fast becoming the main argument Republicans use to defend them.

They've always said that their only intent was to ensure the "integrity" of elections and protect against voter impersonation, a virtually nonexistent problem. But they recently realized that they've got a new, and seemingly compelling, piece of evidence they can muster against charges of voter suppression. Many voter-ID laws were passed over the last few years (the Supreme Court upheld voter ID in 2008), and as Republicans will tell you (see for example here or here), turnout among blacks hasn't declined, and in some cases has gone up. Blacks even turned out at a slightly higher rate than whites overall in the 2012 election. As Rand Paul recently said, "I don't think there is objective evidence that we're precluding African-Americans from voting any longer."

So what's wrong with this argument? The voter suppression efforts have been largely unsuccessful because civil rights groups and Democrats have responded to them by redoubling their efforts to get people to the polls. The backlash has essentially brought turnout among African Americans back up to what it would have been without the voter-ID laws, even though in practice, it meant that some people who would have otherwise voted were prevented from doing so, while other people who might have stayed home managed to get to the polls.

So what Republicans are essentially saying is, we're trying to suppress the votes of black people, but we aren't succeeding, so how can you criticize us? It's like me slashing your tires on Saturday, then when you go out and buy four new ones and get them installed in time for Monday morning, I say, "You got to work on time, didn't you? So that just shows I wasn't trying to do you any harm."

The "voter fraud" rationale has been incredibly disingenuous from the beginning, but for me the real tell is the limitations on early voting that often end up being part of these laws. You can argue that everyone should have to prove who they are before casting a ballot. But restricting early voting can have only one purpose, and that's making it more difficult for people to vote, especially those who happen to take advantage of early voting. And who might that be? You'll never guess. The Republicans pushing these laws always make sure to eliminate early voting on the Sunday before election day, because that's when many black churches have historically done "souls to the polls" drives, where people head to the voting locations after church.

So the next time you hear someone say that high turnout among African Americans proves that voter ID isn't about suppressing votes, remember that they're trying to use their failure to successfully keep black, poor, and young people from voting to explain away their obvious intent to keep black, poor, and young people from voting. If you put obstacles in my path to screw me, and then I manage with an extraordinary effort to evade them, it doesn't mean you weren't trying to screw me in the first place.

They think they need to pass this tax bill to stave off defeat. But it may do just the opposite.

About the Author

Paul Waldman is a weekly columnist and senior writer for The American Prospect. He also writes for the Plum Line blog at The Washington Post and The Week and is the author of Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.